Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #114140

Zhiwei Zhang, PhD, NORC, University of Chicago, 1350 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20036, 202-223-9134, zhang-zhiwei@norc.uchicago.edu

Mental health service and primary care are noted as holding a promise of better treatment for disturbed individual in general health care system. What is less known is how the linkages to mental health services and primary health care would affect the drug use improvement outcomes in drug use specialty treatment settings where no mental health services was provided. This study has two objectives: first, it aims to examine whether a joint linkage to mental health and primary care would provide net benefit that neither could provide alone separately; second, it compares the potential effect of the linkage to mental health services with those of the on-site mental services and those programs that provided neither on-site nor offsite mental services. This secondary analysis will utilize the National Treatment Improvement Evaluation Study (NTIES) [1993 to 1995] which has intake, discharge, and one-year follow-up interview data from residential, outpatient and methadone treatment clients (N=3255). Primary and overall uses of the major illicit drugs (heroin, cocaine powder, crack cocaine, and marijuana) are considered separately. The relevancy of non-specialty ADM to substance abuse specialty treatment will be presented and discussed. At the conclusion of the session, participants in this session will be able to: 1. Develop a care plan that utilizes the combinations of the mental health and other services in achieving optimal effective treatment in a variety of modalities. 2. Articulate the measuring of the improvement outcomes in the context of poly drug uses among patients.

Learning Objectives: